More Scenes From Hopetown

Elbow Cay Lighthouse

Joe and Sandy from NorthWind advised us to visit the lighthouse at dusk when the light keeper arrives. The lighthouse on Elbow Cay in Hopetown is one of just three remaining that still has a kerosene lamp and is manually powered. We arrived about an hour before sunset to spend time at the top and enjoy the view. We pretty much had the lighthouse to ourselves. We enjoyed a spectacular sunset, and then shortly after, the light keeper arrived. He answered all of our questions and invited us to the upper part of the light around the Fresnel lenses to watch him. This area is not normally open to the public. He has been a light keeper for 36 years. It takes two light keepers, each working a six-hour shift. The lighthouse burns two gallons of kerosene each night. The weights need to be wound back to the top every two hours. First, he removed a heavy canvas curtain that protects the lenses from the sunlight. This is to prevent reflection of the sunlight off the lenses. We then watched as he prepared and lit the mantel. He then slowly cranked the weight back to the top, and the lenses began their steady rotation. This light is set up with five beams and then a long pause. We asked about working in hurricanes, and yes, he has kept the light going even through hurricanes. We both have a great interest in lighthouses, so this was such a special treat. Luckily, here there are not all sorts of regulations and rules preventing an up close and personal look at the inter workings of this very special lighthouse.

Junkanoo

A very unique Bahamian tradition is Junkanoo. This is normally held around Christmas and New Year's and again during the summer. To keep this tradition active and growing, the schools, both primary and secondary, compete. As it happens, the parade and judging for the Abacos was this week in Marsh Harbor. This was the main attraction that drew us to Marsh Harbor at this time. Junkanoo is dancing with colorful costumes, musical instruments, and featuring the beat of goat skin drums. We stayed for three hours, but on waking at 2:30 am, it was still going, having started at about 7:30 pm.

From Marsh Harbor, we moved on to Hopetown on Elbow Cay. Hopetown is just postcard-perfect and features a working lighthouse, still with the original lenses and hand-wound kerosene mantle. It is just awesome to watch the five beams of light above us as we are very close by on our mooring in the harbor. Hopetown is a charming village of pastel cottages, sandy beaches, and a wonderful harbor.

Marsh Harbor

We are in Marsh Harbor this week. Marsh Harbor is the third-largest city in the Bahamas. It is also cruisers central for the Abacos. The harbor is large and can accommodate a lot of boats, which is the case. This is the largest gathering of boats we have encountered thus far. They have good shopping here and the best chance of getting a repair or finding a part. The prices are higher but not extremely so if you are careful. Each morning on the VHF radio, there is a cruisers' net at 8:15 lasting about 45 minutes to an hour. They cover weather, news, sports, community events, commercial announcements, trivia, anyone flying to the US willing to carry mail, open mike, new arrivals, departures, and more. This is how everyone keeps up and stays tuned to what is going on. It is very well run and really helpful. We did some fishing one afternoon and caught several snappers and grunts. While they were small, there was enough to make a meal for each of the three boats. We cooked ours on the grill the same day, and they were very good.

Great Guana Cay

Through the Whale

We spent a couple of days at Great Guana Cay. On first approaching the beach and while wading the dinghy in the last 20 feet or so to the beach, a couple of rays were swimming around our feet. We explored the settlement and then went over to Nippers to view the ocean side to see if it was possible to snorkel. It was still too rough, so we put off snorkeling for another day. Along the way, I picked up a coconut, which is now grated and in the refrigerator. We stopped at Milo's fruit and vegetable stand and picked up some homegrown tomatoes. We had originally planned to go to Nippers for their Sunday pig roast, but changed our plans to go to Grabbers to watch the Daytona 500 on a wide-screen TV. We had great snorkeling on Sunday morning on some reefs. The reefs drop off quite sharply and offer plenty of very colorful and varied fish, plants, and coral. Sunday afternoon, we did go to Grabbers for a late lunch, but as it turns out, the TV was only easily visible for about 8 stools in the outdoor bar. Sunday night, the winds increased to a steady 25 knots and clocked around such that we lost our protection. It was a bouncy night, but we are not complaining as it is only our second rough night in almost 6 months at anchor.

Nippers

Valentines Day

A cold front passed through the Abacos earlier this week, which was the best developed and strongest of the season. It has since settled down, and Valentine's Day was very nice. We had dinner and later danced at the Green Turtle Club. It was a great time spent with all of the cruisers we have met over the past week. The dinner procedure is to place your order with the reservation. They had two scheduled seatings and had a nice area to gather and socialize beforehand. Before going in for dinner, we visited Patrick and Christine Moulique' on Frog Kiss, a Nordhaven 46 from our old marina in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Today we went through the Whale and are now settled in Fishers Bay at Great Guana Cay. To get here, we had to go into the open waters of the Atlantic around Whale Cay. This can only be traveled in good conditions, and even then, it is not really comfortable. Our ride was a little lumpy but not really bad.

Linda, Norm, Jan, Iain, Alice, and Ted

Medical Update

After conferring with Ted and Alice's son, they concluded they would need to clean the area around the original bite, which was badly infected. Luckily, Jock's Lodge and Windsong each have well-stocked medical supplies. This is hard to do as you really need connections to get some of the supplies and pharmaceuticals. Between the two boats, they had everything needed to clean out and pack the area. The operation went well, and Iain's improvement is very evident. Today, Monday, he visited the nurse at the clinic. She was shocked they had done this. She was able to replenish most of the medical supplies used for the operation. They will need to replace the knife blades. The doctor is only on the island on Thursdays, and by then we should be on our way. We met Iain and Jan for lunch after their clinic visit in New Plymouth. The forecast is for rather high winds tomorrow and Wednesday. We went over the anchor this morning in the dinghy, and I used my face mask to check that it was, in fact, buried in the sand. It was well buried, so we will ride out the winds where we are.

Iain's Medical Problem

Back at our beach gathering on Allans-Pensacola, Iain got a bite, maybe from a spider. He was gathering wood for a possible fire on the beach the following night if we were to stay. He complained right away, and over the next couple of days, his hand and arms swelled quite badly. The bite was about midway on his forearm, but the swelling extended from his hand to nearly his shoulder. A couple of days ago, he visited the clinic in New Plymouth. The nurse (no doctor) prescribed an antibiotic,  which he bought at the clinic. His arm is warm or burning, and he has had a fever at times. Ted and Alice's son is a doctor, so they have linked Iain and Jan up via Skype telephone and sent pictures via e-mail for a long-distance consultation. Tomorrow, he may need to get a ferry to an island with better medical services. We will be in Green Turtle Cay longer than planned to give Iain a chance to get better and to wait on the weather (less winds). Last night we went to the Jolly Roger Bar and Bistro at the Bluff House Yacht Club. The night before, we could hear the band playing and wanted to see them in person. They are a local Abacos group and are quite good. It was a strange mix of wedding reception, locals, and a few cruisers. The music was good, and we had a good time. While we had planned to attend church in New Plymouth, the wind picked up, so it would be a wet ride in the dinghy, so we decided to stay aboard.

New Plymouth

The village of New Plymouth, located on the southern tip of Green Turtle Cay, is home to just over 400 people, most of whom can trace their ancestry back to the Loyalists of the American Revolutionary War. The first Loyalists to come to the Abacos were refugees from New York. We toured the Captain Roland Roberts house, now home to the Environmental Center, which focuses on saving the reefs. The Roberts were in that first group of Loyalists that settled on Green Turtle Cay.

Washers and dryers are available at the Green Turtle Club, close by, where we are anchored. We did two loads, which cost $4.00 per load for the washer and $4.00 per cycle for the dryer. One washer did not properly spin dry the clothes, so after spending $24.00 to wash and dry two loads, we ended up hanging half the items in the boat to finish drying.

Cleared In At Green Turtle Cay

We decided to go to Green Turtle Cay and secure an anchorage in White Sound, as the winds are now forecast to build tonight and tomorrow. Clearing in was very easy. We will probably stay here for several days. We have internet access again on the free Coconut Telegraph WiFi access. We are able to use Skype to call out.

Gulf Stream Crossing

Visitor on board

Happy Hour at Allans-Pensacola Cay

The anchor chain is lying on the bottom

Cleared in

Super Bowl

On Super Bowl Sunday, we continued on, moving from Great Sale Cay to Allans-Pensacola Cay. The wind was very light and on the nose, so we motored all the way. The depth was around 15 feet, and with glassy seas, we could watch the bottom pass by. We saw several sea cucumbers, some sponges, some sea turtles, and a few fish. Our group included Kalina, Miss Pearl, Munteyn Top, Tuesday Child, along with Jock's Lodge and Windsong. We arrived at 2 pm and planned Happy Hour on the beach at 3:30. There were already a few boats in the anchorage when we arrived, so we had about a dozen boats at Happy Hour. We figured our chances of seeing the Super Bowl at such a remote location were extremely slim. To our surprise, we were able to pick up a TV signal, which varied from fairly good to all snow. We could get a picture, but no sound, so we found an FM radio station with the broadcast. The radio broadcast lagged behind the picture by 10 or more seconds, so that took some getting used to. We invited Dennis and Judy from Munteyn Top over to watch the game. They are from New Hampshire and did not have any way to listen to the game. Dennis built Munteyn Top, a wooden schooner, over a period of 8 1/2 years. It was built in their front yard, which is on a hill.  Interestingly, Judy has climbed 48 mountains in New Hampshire that rise above 4000 feet. I am writing about Munteyn Top as we have nothing to say about the game. On Monday, we went snorkeling and also followed a path to the ocean side to see the signing trees and to place our boat name and date there as well. Pictures will follow once we get an internet connection later this week.

Bahamas Bound

On Thursday, January 31, we moved to just south of the Lake Worth inlet to stage for our departure. We went early so we could visit Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to register for the Friendly Boater Program. This is available in Florida, whereby presenting our passports and ship's documentation, we are issued a card with a number we report in with on our return to the U.S. When we return, we can clear in by calling an 800 number and should avoid a visit to CBP offices. The radio was busy all evening as we made plans for the crossing. We all finally agreed on a 5 am departure, and about 8 or 9 boats would be in the group. We decided on 5 am based on the latest weather report from Chris Parker of the Caribbean Weathernet. The winds picked up substantially during the evening and night as predicted, and when we got up at 4 am, they were still blowing hard, so we delayed departure. After getting a new weather update at 6:30 am, with the winds finally falling off and allowing time for the seas to settle, we set a new departure time at 9 am. We counted 9 boats leaving the inlet at 9 am. The day was just wonderful with good sailing and a very tame Gulf Stream. One exciting new experience as we approached the Little Bahama Bank was to see flying fish. I never realized how well they can control their flight and how far they can travel, staying in the air for several seconds. Since we were delayed 4 hours on our departure, we could not make our original planned destination in daylight, so at 5:30, we dropped anchor where we were. We were the lead boat, so all trailing boats sighted on us either visually or by the anchor lights. The last boat arrived at 8 pm, making seven boats anchored in our little cluster. It was a new experience anchoring without any land in sight. While the depth was 15 feet, the water was crystal clear, so every detail of the bottom was visible. We watched our anchor descend, and then the chain pay out across the bottom. On Saturday, all of the boats in our group left at
9 am bound for Great Sale Cay, about 40 miles across the bank. The wind was light and on the nose, so it was a motoring day. We had a small, very tired bird join us for a while. He checked out the entire boat and spent time in the cockpit with us, and perched briefly on my knee. Great Sale Cay is just some sand and brush, but in a great location for a stop. Several of us will continue on to Allans-Pensacola Cay tomorrow. We have not cleared in yet, so we are flying our Q (Quarantine) flag. We will clear in when we arrive at Green Turtle Cay sometime next week.